* Every now and then we take a look at what AG Kwame Raoul has been up to, since a lot of it doesn’t get covered by the news media. Press release yesterday…

ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL ANNOUNCES ANOTHER VICTORY TO STOP TRUMP’S UNLAWFUL ATTEMPT TO FREEZE FEDERAL FUNDS

Attorney General Kwame Raoul released the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit largely upheld a lower court order blocking the Trump administration’s illegal effort to categorically freeze trillions of dollars in essential federal funding to states.

“This is a huge win for the health and safety of Illinoisans and all Americans. Within the first week of President Trump’s second term, his administration attempted to freeze trillions of dollars that they did not have the legal authority to freeze. We pushed back. We said no. We came together under the direction of the law to ensure the Trump administration could not take action that could have a devastating impact on funding for our state’s most vulnerable residents.

“The U.S. Constitution is clear: Congress is granted the power to appropriate funding. The executive branch cannot unilaterally disregard appropriations passed by a separate branch of government. Now, the court’s opinion prevents the executive from running roughshod over that principle. Blocking this freeze ensures our residents, including our children, are safe with access to health care, childcare, lifesaving medical research, mental health programs and sex education in public schools, and crime victim compensation.

“This federal funding is also essential for Illinois universities that depend on National Institutes of Health grants to develop new medical treatments that save lives. I applaud the court’s decision and will continue to fight any reckless and illegal efforts that threaten this essential funding for the health and safety of our residents.”

In January 2025, Attorney General Raoul co-led a coalition of 22 other attorneys general in suing to stop the implementation of a new federal policy that would have categorically withheld trillions of dollars in essential funding, impacting a vast array of important public services that states provide. In March 2025, Raoul won a preliminary injunction blocking the policy, and now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit largely affirmed that order.

* Monday…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging unlawful actions by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), including threats to withhold funding from state and local fair housing enforcement agencies for abiding by state laws and to impose illegal conditions on HUD funding. These actions threaten to weaken America’s fair housing enforcement system and undermine states’ ability to ensure equal access to housing. If unchallenged, discrimination in housing is almost certain to increase. […]

Sixty years ago, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Act to address pervasive housing discrimination. Congress also created a robust partnership between HUD and state and local agencies, known as the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP), to enforce this landmark civil rights law in tandem with state fair housing laws. The FHAP has had strong bipartisan support in Congress and stable funding since it was established in 1980.

In their lawsuit being filed today, Raoul and the attorneys general allege that the Trump administration is seeking to illegally undermine this partnership by attacking states’ ability to combat housing discrimination under their own democratically enacted state laws.

Through the FHAP, HUD refers allegations of housing discrimination to state and local partner agencies for investigation and enforcement. These agencies receive HUD funding, which they use to process housing discrimination complaints, train staff, and support community outreach and education.

In September 2025, HUD issued guidance to the Illinois Department of Human Rights and partner agencies in other states, threatening to decertify them from the program and cut off funding unless they stop enforcing crucial protections against housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, language, criminal records and source of income. The guidance also bars agencies from pursuing claims targeting housing practices that may appear neutral but, in reality, are discriminatory and have a disparate impact on certain populations. In Illinois and many other states, these fair housing protections are enshrined in state law.

In addition to the threat to decertify partner agencies, HUD is attempting to impose vague, ideologically motivated, and unlawful conditions on program funding.

In their complaint, Raoul and the attorneys general assert that the administration’s actions will raise the costs of enforcing state and federal fair housing laws in their states. They also argue that HUD’s vague conditions will sow confusion over enforcement. […]

The coalition’s lawsuit alleges that HUD’s guidance violates the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies implement rule changes.

* Last week…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today issued the following statement after a federal court judge granted Raoul’s motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin the federal government from halting health-related funding to states and void the public health grant terminations that have already occurred.

Last month Raoul led attorneys general from California, Colorado and Minnesota in suing the Trump administration over the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) directive to target those states and unlawfully cut more than $600 million in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants based on its policy disagreements with those states. The court previously granted a temporary restraining order in this case, which lasted 28 days.

“Thanks to the order we secured, hundreds of nurses, disease detectives and other essential public health workers will keep their jobs as we fight the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to terminate more than $600 million in health-related funding. This preliminary injunction means Illinois will continue to receive more than $100 million in CDC grant funding that protects Illinois children from lead poisoning, as well as testing for and treatments of HIV. This funding also allows Illinois and other states to track disease outbreaks, maintain and improve data systems, and collect basic public health data the CDC relies on. […]

On Feb. 9, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified Congress of its intent to terminate CDC grant funding in those four states without providing any specific reasons. Cuts to Illinois’ public health programs alone exceed $100 million. In their complaint, Raoul and the coalition allege that OMB’s directive commanding agencies to cut funding, along with its implementation, violates the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act because it is arbitrary and capricious and exceeds the agencies’ statutory authority.

* More from last week…

Attorney General Kwame Raoul today, as part of a coalition of 24 states, asked the U.S. Court of International Trade to rule in the states’ favor and block implementation of President Trump’s latest efforts to impose illegal tariffs on products purchased by American consumers and businesses.

Raoul and the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the tariffs earlier this month. […]

For more than a year, President Trump unlawfully invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and attempted to impose tariffs on essential goods purchased by American consumers and businesses. In April 2025, Raoul and a coalition filed a lawsuit to block the administration’s attempt to impose illegal tariffs because, as the suit explained, only Congress has the power to “lay and collect” taxes.

In February, the Supreme Court rejected the president’s unprecedented and unlawful use of IEEPA and agreed that the tariffs were unlawful.

Rather than accepting that loss in court, President Trump is now attempting to use a different law that has never been used before, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, to impose 10% tariffs on most products worldwide, apparently in response to trade deficits. But, as Raoul and the attorneys general argue, those tariffs are illegal too. Section 122 allows tariffs only when there are “large and serious balance-of-payment deficits.” A trade deficit is not a balance-of-payment deficit, and so Section 122 does not apply.

The president’s first round of illegal tariffs threatened Illinois’ economy and harmed taxpayers by increasing costs to the state and local governments. For example, the Illinois Department of Transportation alone estimated that over two years, the state’s costs for transportation projects would have been $249 million to $585 million higher due to tariffs.

The Supreme Court’s decision last month might have mitigated those increased costs to the state in construction projects, technology and other expenses, but the newly imposed illegal tariffs again create harms to Illinois’ economy.

Economic analysis submitted to the court shows that state governments in the 24 plaintiff states stand to pay at least $748 million per year in additional costs due to the new tariffs. Additionally, a recent analysis by researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York concluded that nearly 90% of the costs of tariffs last year were paid by American consumers and businesses.

Today’s motion asks the U.S. Court of International Trade to order federal agencies to stop collecting the latest round of illegal tariffs by issuing a summary judgment or, in the alternative, a preliminary injunction.